This is meant for beginners in English, if it could be read clearly and rather slowly that would be great. Thanks. Feel free to rephrase anything that sounds strange to a native speaker.
Look! there is a wall around the town. It was to protect the people from enemies.
There were also gates that were closed at night. Curfews were imposed to keep the peace.
In big towns there was a market place. Markets were noisy and busy. Merchants had to "cry the wares" as their only means of advertising.
Once or twice a year there was a big fair that could last several days. Merchants sometimes came from other countries. Fair days were very festive.
There were many shops in the towns, shopekeepers often sold the goods they made themselves. The men who made one type of thing lived in the same street so there were streets called Candlemakers's row or Honey lane or Milk street....
There was a sign outside the shop like a fish or a boot or a hat but no names as most people could not read.
The streets were narrow and very dirty. People threw their rubbish in the street: dirty water, sweepings from the stable, rests of dead animals, contents of chamber pots... Pigs, chicken wandered in the rubbish along with rats. Sanitation was a real problem.
As there was no running water, people had to go to the river or well to get some water. Water carriers brought water in carts or buckets and could be seen everywhere in the town.
The houses were tall and close together. They were often made of wood. Fire was the main fear of town people.
Crime was also a constant problem of the towns. the larger the city, the higher the incidence of crime. but most crime in cities was theft, not violent crime.
